


Unlikely Friends

by missdaffodil



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson Friendship, Emotional Hurt, Friendship, Good Draco Malfoy, One Shot, Other, POV Draco Malfoy, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25718407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missdaffodil/pseuds/missdaffodil
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts is happening. Pansy takes Draco to Padma and Romilda, who surprisingly help to comfort Draco.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson, Padma Patil/Romilda Vane
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Unlikely Friends

**Author's Note:**

> this one-shot is based off a screenshot i saw from the final film where they're all walking out. draco and pansy are behind romilda and padma, and it gave me this idea !

Hiding behind a statue in the corridor, Draco watched as many of his peers ran. His hands shook as he gripped onto the edge of the statue, his heart beating so hard he could feel it throughout his whole body.

He knew this day was going to come, he’d spent years dreading it, fearing it, having nightmares about it. But now, it was here.

The battle between Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and every other witch and wizard.

The thing Draco feared most, though, was not his life. Was not his side losing. It was his side winning. He couldn’t handle the thought of living the rest of his life hearing screams in his dungeons, having his manor taken over by Death Eaters, having Lord Voldemort just around the corner and aunt Bellatrix constantly taunting him.

He wanted everything to go back to how it was before, when he had first started Hogwarts. When Lord Voldemort was merely a distant threat, his life was fun, he had so many friends and enjoyed his days.

Now he dreaded the moment he had to open his eyes in the morning.

Nightmares plagued him, but when he awoke, his life was no different. His mind could never rest, and that is all he wanted.

He’d spent many hours stood in front of his mirror, wand to his head, attempting to get “avada kedavra” out of his mouth but every time, he choked on his words. The thought of his mother would flash through his mind, finding his stiff body on the floor and her being left alone. The thought of his fellow Slytherins hearing about his death, feeling abandoned in such a terrible time.

It didn’t stop him from standing there, wand to his temple, hand shaking and clammy as his pale fingers gripped onto the wood.

The feeling of his mother’s wand was heavy in his hand. His mother and father were both wandless, unprotected, and he didn’t know where they were. He was too terrified, too frozen to the spot, to be able to go and search for them. Many students of Hogwarts hated him, knew he was attempting to murder Dumbledore, knew he was a Death Eater. All throughout his seventh year, the year that was supposed to be his favourite, the year he was finally going to graduate, his peers had given him dirty looks, shot curses at him in the corridors, shouted abuse at him.

But how could they know that this was not the life Draco wanted? All they heard were rumours, some true, some false, and he didn’t have the energy to be able to try and correct them. His reputation was forever plagued, and there was nothing he could do but keep his head down and try to get the grades he needed. But even that was almost impossible.

“Draco?” came a familiar voice from behind him, and he felt his heart rate slow from comfort. Turning round, he saw Pansy emerging from the far corner of the corridor. His best friend Pansy, who had always been there for him. Who had held him as he sobbed throughout seventh year, had risked everything to sneak into the boy’s dorms to stroke his hair after a nightmare.

“Pansy,” Draco almost choked as he spoke, feeling his knees begin to crumble under the weight of his body. She instantly reached out and grabbed hold of him, keeping him close into her tiny frame.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” she cooed, holding him as tight as she could. The touch felt familiar, felt safe, it reminded Draco that he was loved.

“My m-mother and father,” Draco stuttered, but Pansy interrupted.

“They’re okay, I’ve seen them, they were looking for you.”

“I’m so scared, Pans.”

“Me too,” she said, looking up at him with gentle but beautiful eyes.

“I don’t know what to do. Everyone hates me. I’m so scared they’re going to think I’m one of them and kill me.”

“I won’t let them,” said Pansy with a strong expression, taking hold of his hand firmly in hers. “You need to come with me.”

“Why? I-I’m safe here.”

“Trust me, Draco,” and at once, Pansy started to run, dragging Draco along with her. He was terrified, but they both had their wands drawn. As soon as students looked their way, Pansy would scream at them not to cast a spell, telling them he’s not one of them. The relief visibly washed over Draco as the other students would then lower their wands and walk away.

They were now in the great hall.

“Pansy, I can’t be in here,” said Draco, attempting to step back but Pansy wouldn’t let him.

“You’re safe, Draco, we will keep you safe.”

“We?” asked Draco, but Pansy didn’t respond. Instead, she dragged him over to the corner of the hall, where he saw Padma Patil and Romilda Vane sat together, hands entwined.

“I found him,” said Pansy breathlessly as she made Draco sit on the floor. He looked warily to the two girls, who greeted him with smiles.

“Don’t worry, Draco,” said Romilda in a soft voice, “we will keep you safe.”

“Padma, aren’t you part of Dumbledore’s Army?” asked Draco, his voice wavering in fear.

“Yes, which is why I’m going to keep you safe,” replied Padma, placing a hand on his knee and giving it a gentle squeeze before taking hold of Romilda’s hand again.

“What’s going on?” Draco looked to Pansy.

“I became friends with them this year,” she explained as she sat, tucking a strand of Draco’s now curly hair behind his ear. It had been a few days since he’d had the chance to shower, or even groom himself, his natural curls were now on show to everyone.

“I was stressed over something in potions and Romilda helped me in the library with some research. She could tell something was wrong, so I told her how worried I was about you and the whole situation. She took me under her wing. Her and Padma are dating, so Padma accepted me too,” said Pansy with a gentle smile. “When I wasn’t with you, I’d be with them. They’ve really helped me this year, and they understood as much of your situation as I was able to share, so they knew there would come a time where we would have to protect you.”

“And you’re both okay with that?” Draco’s voice was now hoarse as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Of course we are,” said Padma with a large smile and a twinkle in her eyes. “Romilda and I understand.”

“But Dumbledore’s Army hate me, I-I was supposed to kill Dumbledore-”

“But you lowered your wand,” interrupted Romilda.

“What?”

“Harry had told us before he left in sixth year. After he saw what had happened. That’s when we knew you weren’t the enemy, Draco. All of Dumbledore’s Army know you aren't the enemy.”

“I-I don’t understand.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” said Padma gently, “I get that. Dumbledore’s Army doesn’t hate you, Draco. We wouldn’t be sat with you if it did.”

Draco looked around the room. At this point, things were quiet. The Death Eaters had left, gone to the Forbidden Forest to try and kill Harry Potter. The thought of this made his heart lurch, especially since Potter had just saved his life.

Without Potter, Draco would be dead.

As he looked around, he saw members of Dumbledore’s Army, members of the order who were still alive. They nodded to him, gave him a small and understanding smile.

Suddenly overwhelmed, Draco had to look away. He tried to face away from the three girls sat with him, too, tears suddenly falling down his face.

“I’m sorry,” choked Draco, putting a hand up to his face.

“It’s okay,” said Pansy, placing a small hand on his back, “we know it’s a lot. You’ve had such a rough time.”

“I can’t even imagine what it must be like to have you-know-who so close to me like that,” said Romilda with wide eyes. “It must have been so terrifying.”

“It was,” said Draco as he looked at her. “I preferred coming here and being hated, being cursed, than being at home. I would be kept awake hearing screams from the dungeons, screams from witches and wizards being tortured by you-know-who. I… I don’t deserve this,” said Draco suddenly, attempting to get up from his seat. “He made me do bad things. You shouldn’t be protecting me.”

“Draco?” Pansy’s eyes were soft.

“He made me kill, Pansy. He made me kill,” Draco wasn’t able to get up. His legs were too weak, his whole body shook violently from the sobs he tried to keep suppressed.

“We guessed that, Draco,” said Padma with a shake of her head, “we already guessed.”

“Innocent people, so many innocent people-”

“You are safe now,” said Pansy gently. “The order, what’s left of them, they will protect you too, if you ask. They said they will, Draco. Molly Weasley told me herself, if you ask, they will protect you.”

And Draco considered it. For a few moments, he looked at the older woman, who sat next to her son who’s life had been lost. Now would be a bad time, but when wouldn’t be?

Just as Draco went to get up, there were sounds from outside the castle.

The Dark Lord was back.

Fear crept over Draco’s face as he realised it was too late.

“We’ll go out together,” said Romilda.

The four terrified students all stood up. Pansy stood on Draco’s left, taking hold of his hand, while Padma stood on his right, taking both his and Romilda’s hands in her own. And slowly, they began to follow the crowd.

McGonagall stood in front of them and turned to see them all, taking a quick glance down at their hands, before giving Draco a sympathetic smile.

“Mr Malfoy,” said McGonagall, “I hope you know you are always welcome here. No matter what the outcome is of today.”

Draco just nodded. They followed McGonagall out of the castle, hands still grasped together, and there they saw thousands of Death Eaters. Draco scanned the crowd and saw Hagrid, holding a body in his arms.

“Harry Potter, is dead!” said Voldemort loudly, and the crowd on their side erupted in laughter and cheers. Draco’s heart sunk, his hands began to shake, and he felt his knees begin to buckle.

The thought of Potter being dead, after saving Draco’s life, broke him. Not only because of that, but Potter was the only chance Draco had at getting out of that life. Of escaping the fear, the pain, the nightmares. That chance was now gone.

As Voldemort gave his speech, he spotted his mother and father. His mother looked desperately over to him, her eyes wide, her lips pressed tightly together. She was not laughing, she was not getting involved.

“Draco,” came his father’s voice. “Come on, Draco.”

Draco looked at his new friends, tears brimming his silver eyes as he looked desperately for an answer.

“It’s okay,” said Padma almost silently, “you will still be under our protection no matter what you do.”

“Draco, come,” called his mother’s voice. He knew he couldn’t resist. His mother needed him, now more than ever.

“Thank you,” whispered Draco to the two girls who stood before him, tears filling their eyes, smiles on their lips. Slowly, he let go of their hands, gave a gentle nod to Pansy, before walking slowly across the grounds.

After Draco’s mother handed him his wand, the wand Harry had been using, the wand he wished wasn’t now in his hand and still remained in Potter’s, the rest felt like a blur. Draco’s mother held onto his hand, her grasp so tight it felt like the circulation was being cut off to his fingers. But he didn’t complain, he didn’t want to complain, he felt loved. He felt safe.

Suddenly, the body dropped from Hagrid’s arms, and up rose Potter. Without a second thought, Draco scrambled from his mother’s grasp and ran forwards.

“Potter!” shouted Draco, before throwing his wand over to him. Voldemort looked at Draco for a second, rage filling his face, but he quickly got distracted by Potter.

Draco felt his hand being grabbed again and looked to see his mother.

“We will get to safety now, my son,” her delicate voice said, a smile on her lips. She pulled him away instantly, and they began to walk down the length of what was left of the bridge.

Draco looked back quickly, to see Romilda, Padma and Pansy.

“Thank you,” he mouthed, and they nodded.

Draco had faith in Potter to destroy Voldemort. He always did.

Hopefully, once this was all over, Draco could finally be happy, with his new friends.


End file.
